FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a biopsy surgical appliance.
Biopsy surgical appliances are commonly used to remove a sample of tissue from inside a living being.
At present, various biopsy surgical appliances are known, which include a biopsy needle, having a stylet and a cannula which extend coaxially, the rear portions of which are attached to a mechanical device which is disposed inside a shell, such that they can be activated automatically or semi-automatically.
In appliances of this type, the stylet consists of a thin probe, the front end of which is pointed and is preceded by a recess for accommodation of the sample to be collected. The cannula is fitted coaxially onto the stylet, slides axially relative to the stylet, and has a cutting front end which is designed to close the recess in the stylet.
The mechanical device has two slides which can slide longitudinally inside the shell. It also has resilient means designed to load the two slides resiliently and longitudinally, coupling/release means designed to retain the two slides in the armed position and to release them, loading means designed to bring the two slides into the armed position, and control means to release the two slides from their armed position. In order to use this appliance, it is first set in the armed position, and the front end of the biopsy needle is inserted in the vicinity of the tissue to be collected. Collection of a sample occurs by advancing in respective automatic or semi-automatic succession first the stylet and then the cannula.
By the way of example see patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,625; EP-O,536.888; WO-91/01112 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,787.
The known biopsy surgical appliances have some disadvantages.
A first disadvantage consists of the fact that they are very heavy, such that during use, the operator, must support the appliance continuously in order to eliminate undesirable advance movements and/or displacements caused by the action of the force of gravity.
A second disadvantage is caused by the fact that the appliances are complex to maneuver, and do not allow the operator to control and/or analyze and/or remove the sample easily after the needle has been extracted from the body of a patient.
A third disadvantage is the appliances are very costly, owing to a large number of components, and the complex structuring of the mechanical device which requires considerable assembly times.